RAMS in one sentence
RAMS stands for risk assessment and method statement. The risk assessment answers “what could go wrong, and how bad could it be?”. The method statement answers “how will we do this job safely, step by step?”. Put together, they give your team, your client and the site manager a single document that shows the work has been thought through before anyone picks up a tool.
Is a RAMS a legal requirement?
In Great Britain, employers must assess the risks their work creates for employees and others who could be affected, and act on what they find. That duty comes from health and safety law, including the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The law does not say the paperwork has to be called “RAMS”, and it does not prescribe a layout. In practice, though, RAMS is the format the construction industry has settled on, and most clients and principal contractors will not let you start without one.
HSE’s guidance is that you should record your significant findings if you employ five or more people. Many contractors write it down regardless, because a document is far easier to brief, check and defend than a conversation.
What goes into a RAMS
A thorough RAMS covers more than a one-page form. Typical sections are shown below.
- Job and site details: what the work is, where it is, when it happens and who is involved.
- Sequence of operation: the steps in the order they will actually be done, which is the method statement.
- Risk assessment: the hazards, who could be harmed, the controls, and a rating before and after those controls.
- People, plant and equipment: who is doing what, with what.
- PPE and COSHH: what must be worn and how hazardous substances are handled.
- Emergency arrangements: what happens if something goes wrong, including the nearest A&E.
- Briefing and sign-off: proof that the people doing the work have read it and understood it.
Who is it for?
The main audience is the people doing the work and their immediate supervisors. HSE’s guidance on method statements makes the same point: they should be as long as they need to be to do their job, clear, and free of vague wording that could be misread. A forty-page document nobody reads protects nobody.
Clients, principal contractors and insurers also look at RAMS to decide whether you are competent for the job. A good RAMS is part of how you win and keep work.
RAMS and the construction phase plan
Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), a construction phase plan sets out how health and safety will be managed across the whole project. The principal contractor prepares it, or the contractor does on a project with only one contractor. Your RAMS is the detailed plan for your part of that project. The two should agree with each other: if your method conflicts with the site rules, that needs sorting out before work starts, not on the day.
Who should write it?
Someone who understands the work and the site. That means a person with the training, experience and knowledge to spot the real hazards of the job, not just whoever has a template to hand. Software can do a great deal of the heavy lifting by giving a thorough, well-structured starting point, but a competent person in your business should always check the result against your own trade standards and the site in front of them.
When to review or revise a RAMS
A RAMS is a living document. Update it when the scope changes, the site conditions change, new people join, equipment changes, or there is an accident or near miss. Keep a record of each revision so you can show what was in force on any given day.
The short version
A good RAMS is specific to the job and the site, written in the order the work happens, honest about the risks, briefed to the team and signed. If yours does that, it will satisfy most clients and, more importantly, it will help your people get home safe.